Pune is now biggest city in Maharashtra; State government publishes notification for merger of Wagholi and 22 other villages in PMC  

Pune: Its official. Pune city has become the biggest city in the state of Maharashtra. The state government has published a notification in the gazette declaring the merger of Wagholi and 22 other villages in the limits of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). With this merger, Pune city now has an official area of 561 square kilometres which is more than Mumbai or any other city in the state.

PMC will need Rs 9500 crore for the development of these merged villages

The merger of the 23 villages will have larger implications on the political and socio-economical development of the city. About 5.5 lakh poputation will be added under the jurisdiction of PMC. This will impact the voting patterns in the new wards that would be created for the PMC civic body elections and the assembly election constituencies. The present gram panchayat elections announced in three villages of Autade-Handewadi, Shewalewadi and Wadachiwadi may also get cancelled.

The issue of merger of 34 villages in the limits of PMC was pending for about 20 years. The then Devendra Fadnavis led state government had initiated the merger process of 11 villages out of the 34 villages. The remaining villages were left out for lack of development funds.

The present Uddhav Thackeray led state government had also stated in the court that the remaining villages will be included in phases. However, in a sudden turn of events, the government took the decision to officially merge these villages in PMC.

The Urban Development department of the state government on Wednesday (December 23) has published a notification in the Maharashtra Government Gazette, Extraordinary, Part1A, Central Sub-Division.